An officer with the Los Angeles Police Department's Newton Division conducted "an investigative stop" in the 200 block of West 65th Street about 8:20 p.m. Monday, according to a LAPD news release. During the stop, a "struggle ensued" and the officer shot the person.

LAPD media relations officer Jane Kim said no other information was available, including the victim's identity or why the officer approached him or her.

But family members of the man killed told a different story to KTLA News. The station interviewed a woman who said she was the deceased man’s mother. She identified him as Ezell Ford and said he was lying on the ground complying with officer's commands when he was shot in the back.

“My heart is so heavy,” Tritobia Ford told the station. “My son was a good kid. He didn’t deserve to die the way he did."

Just take away the guns from the cops like Japan. Leave these young men alone for a few years and everything will be so much better,you'll see. These men a harmless fine young men targeted by the LAPD and other agencies.

She and other family members described Ford as "mentally challenged" and demanded answers.

"All we want to know is why they did it," Ezell Ford Sr. told the station.

The LAPD's Force Investigation Division is handling the investigation. Police Chief Charlie Beck, Inspector General Alex Bustamante and the Board of Police Commissioners will ultimately review the results to verify whether the shooting fell within guidelines mandating that use of force be "objectively reasonable."

The Los Angeles County district attorney's office will also investigate the shooting, which is standard practice in officer-involved shootings.

The California attorney general’s office has asked the state Supreme Court to depublish a controversial ruling that it argues will impede the state's ability to encourage conservation by charging people higher rates when they use excessive amounts of water.

A Los Angeles Department of Water and Power audio-visual technician was charged Thursday with misappropriating more than $4 million in public funds, creating another financial scandal for a city-owned utility that is about to request permission to raise rates.

One of the financial lifelines of California's bullet train project has been $3.2 billion in federal grants. But a provision included in a key transportation funding bill passed by the House of Representatives on Tuesday could place a roadblock on future federal payouts.

Even as California's leaders prepare a new state budget that is flush with cash, Gov. Jerry Brown has increasingly raised the specter of another recession that could undo years of hard-won financial progress.